Metamorphosis Critical Lens

8/9/2019 Metamorphosis Critical Lens

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Jessica Yu

1) Please decide which critical lens you wish to use to explore the theme ofAlienation in The Metamorphosis

Marxist LensClaims

-the evolution of mankind social !roupin!s and interrelations of itsinstitutions and ways of thinkin! is lar!ely "ased on the chan!in!mode of its material production #economic or!ani$ation of producin!and distri"utin! material !oods)

o throu!h a marxist lens %re!or lives in a capitalist world where

there is a dominant class #"oss) and su"ordinate class #%re!or&sfamily)

o

- 'han!es in the fundamental mode of material production e(ectchan!es in class structure in society #creates dominate andsu"ordinate classes)

o when %re!or was in char!e of workin! and makin! money who

was the head& of the familyo when his family mem"er&s "e!an workin! a!ain they "ecame

more powerfulo "oss is the most powerful "est position*

+specially in "e!innin! when everyone is fawnin! over

him and %re!or thinks that his father should not let the"oss make all the decisions of if he could not

- ,uman consciousness is made up of an ideologyo Ideology:

-eliefs values and ways of thinkin! throu!h which

humans perceive what they think to "e reality

"ene.t the interests of a the dominant socioeconomicclass as they lar!ely make it

product of an era&s economic structure and the resultin!

class interests and class relations false consciousness

People livin! in such a society accept it as the natural way

of life inevita"le

o bourgeoisie:

dominant exploitative class who own means of production

and distri"utiono Proletariat

/a!e earnin! class

- Literature0 a method of expression and discourse "etween classes

'riticisms- Literature maintains a de!ree of autonomy and sometimes is not

a(ected "y the "our!eoisie ideolo!y- Georg Lukács

o A !reat work of literature make create its own world


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o Althou!h the author has ideolo!y his characters may not even if

a!ainst the author&s willo A !reat .ctional world

made of typical characters that may encompass the

Marxist reality "rin!in! to life the o"ective conditions of life

-Bertolt Brecht

o 2llusion of reality should "e "roken "y an episodic plot that

prota!onists do not !et audience sympathy and thus producesan alienation e(ect

- Louis Thusser o There are small ideolo!y classes #reli!ion le!al political) in the

lar!er socioeconomic ideolo!y- Althusser

o That which is not said in literature "ecause it opposes ideolo!y

reveals the !aps and contradictions in the ideolo!y- Macherey

o

A"ove is a form of repression- Antonio Gramsci

o Hegemony

3ominant socioeconomic !roup !ains power "y makin!

their ideolo!y so common that the su"ordinate classunknowin!ly accepts it and participates in their ownrepression

o This theory allows for con4ict "tw classes and also chan!e

5) 6nce you have made that choice please read the appropriate attachedentry on that literary theory from the 73ictionary of Literary 'riticism78 #2f you

can9t fully make up your mind feel free to scan throu!h some of the otherentries to make your .nal decision)8

:+M+M-+:0 the idea here is that you don9t need to 7prove7 the ways in whichthe story 7supports7 or 7challen!es7 or is 7consistent7 or 7inconsistent7 withthe lens you9ve chosen8 #Thou!h that may "e somethin! you want to thinkand write a"out)8 The core !oal here is to have you look at the text from aparticular perspective which is interested in particular issues and see whatthe text looks like throu!h that framework; that is< how can this frameworkhelp us make sense of and understand what is !oin! on in the novel andwhat the novel mi!ht have to show us a"out Alienation8

=) As you are readin! the entry on your chosen lens please identify0 6>+ #1)key ?uestion @ idea you want to clarify a"out this lens @ theory and 6>+ #1)insi!ht this theory can provide into makin! sense of The Metamorphosis8

uestion0 ,ow can we prevent the cycle of sta"le society social revolution#in response to contradiction) and repeat #since a rulin! class@non Marxistintellectuals leads the revolution)* 3o humans have to "e innately !ood orsel4ess in order to create such a society*


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2nsi!ht0 Throu!h a Marxist lens %re!or lives in a "our!eoisie society his "ossis the "our!eoisie and he is the proletariat8 ,is family is not workin!@makin!money so they are economic "ene.ciaries #intellectuals*)8 Throu!h Bafka&swritin! style !re!or is alienated from the audience #?uite passive)8 2s thismeant to shock the audience into seein! how we treat outcasts of society*

%re!or&s transformation is akin to a revolution "ecause with histransformation removes the "our!eoisie #"oss) and sparks chan!e8 ,oweverthe people in control after the fact are the intellectuals* #family) who ?uickly"ecome ?uite capa"le of takin! care of themselves !rowin! in stren!th and"ecomin! the workin! class8

- !re!or owns a house too lar!e #he values possessions as per ideolo!y"ut that value is a detriment to his life self oppression)

- we don&t even know what !re!or sells alienated product- !re!or tries to save a picture of a woman in furs totally valueless in

retrospect- The mana!er& is callous and nameless- Additional

-2n addition the fact that the mana!er has the time to personallyretrieve %re!or ali!ns with the Marxist "elief that "y controllin! theproduction and distri"ution of material !oods the "our!eoisie can"ecome the dominant class and pro.t without doin! any real& work8

- To this 2 would ar!ue that thanks to %re!or&s alienation %re!or&sfamily unlike the proletariat is in the uni?ue position of holdin!promisin! o"s with room to be promoted.

6ne pa!e passa!e for 'TAPa!e 11

CMr8 DamsaE the mana!er now called FGH cause your parents seriousunnecessary worry and you ne!lect I 2 mention this only in passin! I yourduties to the .rm in a really shockin! manner8 FGH And your o" is not themost secure8

C-ut sirE cried %re!or "eside himself in his excitement for!ettin!everythin! else

Big Questions- /hat are the forces and sources that estran!e us from ourselves and

others-

emember - talk a"out context of passa!e in entire novel

- don&t overlook complexities and contradictions- don&t for!et key parts of "ook- cite articles

Thesis- The classist society of The Metamorphosis forces %re!or and his family

to act in a manner which alienates %re!or from his work8Things to mention


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- the mana!er represents the "our!eoisie and %re!or represents theproletariat

- in the "e!innin! of the novel %re!or&s family does not work so theyare neither "our!eoisie nor proletariat however they take part in%re!or&s oppression

o at the end of the novel they reveal that their situation is actually

.neo therefore %re!or workin! a o" he hated for his family was

lar!ely due to the society&s expectation that he work for wa!es- we never learn the mana!er&s name which alienates him to the

audienceo he is only a callous person who wishes that !re!or work

o he claims that he is worried a"out %re!or&s parents and that he

only mentions work in passin! however accordin! to a* Marxistreadin! he only cares a"out production

- Antonio %ramsci&s hegemony is present and %re!or participates in selfoppression

o /hen faced with the mana!er&s threats %re!or Cin his

excitement for!ettin! everythin! elseE can think only a"outhow he can !et to work8 ,e continually i!nores his own physicaltransformation in order to

- Your duties to the .rm0 "asically the society&s views of %re!or&sresponsi"ilities "ased on ideolo!y

uestion0- /hat does %re!or&s transformation from useful to useless mean to the

people around him throu!h a Marxist lens*- amily !oes from not workin! to workin! is this a revolution* #when

intellects and workin! class lead a revolution to create a-

'omplexities0

0 %re!or wants to work "ecause of his father&s de"t not "ecause of somesocial expectation doctrineA0 -ut his family forced that role upon him "y not informin! him of the truenature of their .nance

0 /hy didn&t %re!or&s family tell him a"out their .nances*A0 Perhaps he was more useful when makin! money his family didn&t have towork at all then

0 /hat is the state of %re!or&s family*A0 2n the "e!innin! they are sort of "our!eoisie "ut at the end they appear to"e workin! class

6utlineThesis


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- The economic or!ani$ation in Bafka&s The Metamorphosis creates aclassist society in which the "our!eoisie "ene.ts from themaltreatment and alienation of the proletariat from his work and fellowworkers8

- 3e.ne "our!eoisie and proletariat- 3e.ne the money "ased system in which they live

-

Ar!ument 10- %re!or hates and is alienated from his work- Marxist perception on work- %re!or&s work has turned into a o"- 'ontrast picture frames- /hy does he still work*

Ar!ument 5- -ecause accordin! to the mana!er %re!or&s family and %re!or

himself %re!or needs to work to pay "ack his father&s de"t quote- The mana!er works to enforce this class- %re!or&s family works to enforce this class

-'omplication is !re!or&s family "our!eoisie or proletariat*

Ar!ument = and 'onclusion- Proletariat pays for the wealth of the "our!eoisie- ,e!emony Antonio %ramsci- rom the moment %re!or wakes all he can think a"out work even

thou!h he hates it- Mana!er can make !re!or for!et everythin! else ?uote- %re!or should "e concerned a"out his own well "ein! "ut instead dies

as an alien'lose Textual Analysis

The economic or!ani$ation in Bafka&s The Metamorphosis creates a

classist society in which the "our!eoisie "ene.ts from the maltreatment and

alienation of the proletariat from his work and fellow workers8 2n this Marxist

readin! the motivation of each character&s actions lies in their desire to

make money8 The mana!er represents one callous and nameless "our!eoisie

who exploits %re!or the wa!e earnin! proletariat8 The "our!eoisie has a

sin!le !oal maximi$e the output of the proletariat with the least input of

wa!e8 The conse?uence of this money


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actions of the "our!eoisie and proletariat in a world controlled "y a social

consciousness "ased on production and distri"ution

2t must .rst "e stated that %re!or loathes his work8 Accordin! to some

Marxist scholars work should "e a creative mode of expression in which

human "ein!s can aKrm themselves #/ikipedia)8 ,owever far from "ein! a

mode of creative expression %re!or&s o" as a travelin! salesman is

monotonous unful.llin! and controlled "y the "our!eoisie8 +veryday %re!or

wakes at the same un!odly hour ust to sell wares so alien that the reader is

unaware of what they are8 %re!or states that if he didn&t have to "ear the

"urden of his father&s de"t he would ?uit strai!ht away8 To %re!or work is

synonymous with a o" and a o" is synonymous for workin! for a wa!e8 ,e

does not work for pleasure "ut instead for money and is therefore alienated

from his work8 The alienation of %re!or from his o" as a salesman can "e

contrasted to the pride and attachment he feels towards the wooden picture

frame he carved8 2n fact it can "e ar!ued that those frames represent the

only time in the "ook that %re!or&s la"or was self


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further readin! reveals that %re!or&s family has a secret stash of money that

makes the family&s .nances si!ni.cantly less dire than they appear8 At this

moment the class and motives of %re!or&s own family must "e ?uestioned as

like "our!eoisie they "ene.t idly thou!h %re!or&s work and alienation8 6ne

complication of this readin! is that "y the end of the novel %re!or&s family

"ecomes workin! class while %re!or ceases to work8 ,owever no matter

their class it is clear that %re!or&s family knowin!ly contri"uted to the

exploitation and alienation of %re!or a Marxist readin! would say all for the

sake of money and pro.t8

nfortunately the proletariat invaria"ly pays the hi!hest price for the

wealth of the "our!eoisie8 2n the case of The Metamorphosis %re!or dies8

,owever the saddest thin! is that the society in which %re!or lived in !ave

him no choice "ut to die8 ,e!emony as descri"ed "y Antonio %ramsci is the

unknowin! acceptance of the su"ordinate economic class of the social

doctrine set "y the dominant class8 2n this case the mana!er and %re!or&s

family did a !rand o" of convincin! %re!or to work tirelessly8 +ven when

%re!or wakes as a "u! a few words from the mana!er are enou!h to make

%re!or C"eside himself in his excitement for!ettin! everythin! elseE #Damsa

11) think of nothin! "ut work8 2t is o"vious to the reader that %re!or should

"e more concerned a"out his metamorphosis into a "u! however the nature

of the economics of the society has put %re!or into a position where since he

can no lon!er produce as a proletariat he must die as an alien8

Documents

Metamorphosis Critical Lens